Noontide
by WhiteBuffalo
Summary: Sol is greeted by one of his most formidable foes who accuses him of betraying the entire Holy Order. A heated battle ensues. Please review!


Quietly, Sol Badguy waited for his enemy to appear. He had leaned himself against one of the pillars in the great room, standing with his arms folded and legs crossed. Typically he expected one of the others to have made it this far. As names passed through his mind ("Chipp, possibly. Venom may make it…"), he suddenly heard the door of the grand hall open. Slowly, a figure emerged from the darkened threshold.  
  
With a bright flash of lightning, the person bellowed out, "Sol! It's time that you and I finished this!" The stained glass of the Parisian hall glowed with every flash, and would illuminate window-shaped patterns down on the luscious red carpet. "You've been hiding from the Holy Order for too long! It is time that you understand the consequences of your actions!"  
  
As the thunder boomed, the figure stepped into the light of the old-fashioned 20th century grand chandelier. Sol grinned as he looked up to see the face of Ky Kiske, knight of the Holy Order. But immediately his smirk turned into a dark gaze. "You know that this is your end, Ky." He said, grimly. "There is nothing else that brought you here. Not even Dizzy matters to you. Whether you defeat me or not, you won't go on. You want my blood? You can try to get it." He drew out his sword, the FireSeal, and as it glowed of its amazing power, he grinned again. "Just don't go crying home to your teacup collection after I destroy you."  
  
Ky glanced down at the FireSeal, the one that Kliff had bestowed upon Sol, and whose power Sol had seemed to only abuse. Ky lowered his eyebrows and gave Sol a menacing look. "Your empty threats mean nothing to me. I am an officer of the Ultimate Law, and I know an evil man when I see one. You will pay for what happened to Kliff!" His excited words echoed all the way down the hall. "Besides, the lightning is on my side tonight!" He grasped the hilt of his sword and drew out the long blue sword, the LightningSeal. His golden blonde hair shone brightly with each flash. "I am your one counterpart, and we shall see who has victory tonight!"  
  
Ky lunged at Sol with fierce power; the swords clashed together, shooting sparks off into the dark room. Ky swung again but missed as Sol evaded the attack and jumped over his head. Sol quickly grabbed Ky and slammed him into the ground from behind. "You do realize how quickly I could end this," Sol said. "Fight with your heart and mind, not your anger---" just before he finished his words, Ky put two hands on the ground and flipped out of Sol's hold. He held out his sword as it glowed in the light. Sol grinned and then leaped towards him. Clanging swords filled the room with sound, louder than the thunder.  
  
As their swords crossed, Ky looked across the blades and saw a sparkle in Sol's eye. In an instant, Sol jumped back. "GunFlame!!" He yelled as he stabbed his sword in the ground and bursts of fire flew out towards his enemy. Ky immediately ran towards the wall, jumped high into the air evading the last of the flame spurts, and rebounded off the wall to land directly in front of Sol.  
  
"Your Gear abilities don't impress me, Sol," Ky said. Sol swung his sword at Ky as Ky ducked under the swipe and kicked out Sol's legs. He stood up quickly and forced down his sword, but only went through the floor as Sol rolled to the side. Sol jumped up and slammed Ky down with a roundhouse kick as he was trying to take his sword out of the ground. Ky bounced back up, still without a weapon, but holding out his fists. Sol grinned and threw down his sword next to Ky's. "To make it even, ya know?" Sol said mockingly.  
  
Ky ran at Sol and threw his arm at his chest. Sol grabbed Ky's fist and twisted his arm, but Ky let go of the rest of his body and only swung around in a circle and kicked Sol across the side of his head. Sol stumbled to the side, and Ky ran up to deliver another punch. Sol saw his arm and ducked under it, and punched upwards into Ky's elbow, breaking the bone at the joint.  
  
"GYAA!!!" Ky screamed as his limp left arm felt to his side. He moved himself slowly and fell to his knee.  
  
Sol stood up slowly and walked over to Ky, who was nursing his broken arm. "You don't have it anymore, old timer. I could walk all over you like an ant." He kicked the injured man in the stomach, letting him roll over onto his side.  
  
Ky, under his heavy breathing, said, "You can't defeat hope…"  
  
Sol bent down. "Excuse me?"  
  
"I said… You can't… defeat… HOPE!" Ky flung out his right arm into Sol's chest and Sol soared into the column several feet away. The impact created a large crack in the column as Sol fell to his knee. Sol looked up and ran back at Ky.  
  
Ky stood still waiting for Sol. As soon as Sol reached him, Ky spun around, grabbed his sword from the ground, evaded Sol's attack and slashed him across the back. Sol again toppled down to his knee. Ky stood with a heated stance. Sol got up slowly and looked at Ky.  
  
A lightning flash, a crack of thunder, and then silence. Nothing but the rain and the breathing of the two men.  
  
Sol grabbed the FireSeal out of the ground and ran at Ky. Ky deflected him but Sol ran past, turned around and caught Ky by the throat. Ky pushed away Sol's sword, and ran towards the wall. Sol looked mystified as Ky ran up the wall and jumped off. "STUN EDGE!" Ky swung his sword as an electric bolt shot off at Sol, hitting him directly in the chest.  
  
Sol, now on his back, was paralyzed temporarily. Ky walked up to him, and looked down only for a moment. He held up his sword in the air as his belt inscribed with the word "hope" flashed with the lightning. He drove it straight down towards Sol's heart, but was only interrupted by Sol grabbing the blade and driving it into the ground. He then slammed the hilt back into Ky's face, hitting him directly in the forehead. After 3 hits, Sol kicked Ky off of him and Ky flew into the same broken column. The cracks began to grow larger.  
  
Sol got up and ran at Ky who had just recovered. "Volcanic Viper!!" Sol swung Ky up into the air with the burning edge of the FireSeal, and kicked Ky back into the column at the height of his attack. Ky fell to the ground, his knee cracking the stone floor where there was no carpet. Sol held up his sword, and almost swung at the nearly defeated Ky when the stone pillar began to crumble.  
  
"No way…" Sol said as the column began to fall over. The column slowly bent, now detached from the ceiling, with Ky directly under it. "Get up!" Sol yelled and ran under the column to hold it up. Now with Sol's strength, the column was suspended in mid-fall directly over Ky's head. "Run, Ky!"  
  
Ky awoke from his stupor, saw the column and ran out of the path of the fall. "You saved me!" He said, amazed by Sol's mercy.  
  
"Trust me, I won't do it again," Sol said with a smirk. "The man you're looking for isn't me. I ran away with the FireSeal after I heard of the corruption of the Holy Order."  
  
"Corruption?"  
  
"There's no time! You have to find the man who drove Kliff away from the Order, right? The man you're looking for is the Dark Priest, Testament!"  
  
"Testament…? Why should I believe you?!"  
  
"Do you have any other choice?! He used the Holy Order to turn into a dark magician! You have to find him!"  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"Get out. We'll meet again, Ky Kiske."  
  
Ky ran out of the building as the ceiling began to crumble and collapse. As the grand door closed behind him, he heard the loud crash of the pillar into the stone floor.  
  
"Sol…" 


End file.
